John Dewey's Qualitative Ontology

John Dewey’s notion of the qualitative carries a heavy explanatory burden in both his logical and metaphysical theories. Yet, the specific meaning of the term remains controversial and underexplored. Deweyan qualities can be more clearly understood by first considering their role within the circumscribed contexts of inquiry, and then generalizing these functions in order to understand qualities as generic traits of existence. On the level of a logical theory, qualities provide the grounds for association and suggestion. On the level of a general ontology, qualities account for relation, individuation, and purposive direction.